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Who gets cancer?

Cancer affects mainly older age groups. Around seven out of every ten new cancer patients are aged 65 or over.

But anyone can get it. It affects people of all ages, including children. It affects people of all races, all over the world. Animals get cancer too.

Around one in three people will get cancer at some time in their lives.

This is not quite the same as saying that you have a one in three chance of getting cancer. Your own personal cancer risk depends on many things – including how you live your life, how long you live and whether you may have inherited a tendency to get cancer.